Els hangs in with level-par 72 in Regions Tradition

May 14, 2023 | Featured, South Africans abroad

Ernie Els just about stayed in touch on Saturday with a level-par 72 in the third round of the first senior major championship of the year, the PGA Tour Champions’ Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

Els, who led at the halfway mark at 10-under, had to try and shake off the effects of a double-bogey seven on the second hole to keep his challenge afloat. He managed to do that with three birdies and a bogey on the homeward nine, but he heads into the final round six strokes off the lead which was shared by Steve Stricker of the United States and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson. They lead by to from Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

The 56-year-old Stricker, a two-time winner at the Tradition and a four-time major champion on the PGA Tour Champions, got up and down on the par-five 18th hole to cap off his birdie string and close a bogey-free round. The Charles Schwab Cup points leader has two wins and two runner-up finishes in his last four appearances at Greystone.

The hot finish caught him up with Karlsson after the six-foot-five Swede turned in the lowest round of the tournament since it moved to Greystone, one shot behind the overall tournament record last reached by Brad Bryant in the first round at Sunriver in Oregon in 2009.

Retief Goosen had a level-par 72 in the third round to be in a share of 49th on two-over for the tournament, while David Frost carded a two-over 74 to slip to a share of 59th on four-over.

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